for Brittneys Mom, Mom, there are some lovely children(12 to 15 yrs. old) who post regularly(along with their parents)on The Poultry Connection, Gander Gab and The WaterFowl Meeting Place. These are all farm kids who love the life style and raise and care for their own animals. None of these parents have ever had a problem with the sort of stuff that Ken has so kindly warned us about(and thank you for that Ken, We forget sometimes about the world), perhaps because those are forums devoted to a particular subject??? Brittney will meet some of these kids if she would like to post her requests on www.poultryconnetion.com and she will also find links to the other forums. Say Hi to Brittney and I hope this helps. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 11, 2002

Answers

Thanks. I think Ken and the other responders put the fear of God into me about ANY communication via Internet. I have printed off the sites you named, and will check them out, but I am now way too scared to allow Brittany to respond to any queries. You are right, we do get too "comfortable" and forget that there are very bad people who just jump at opportunites like we unknowingly presented. Thank you anyway. I appreciate hearing a more positive response. Judy

-- Judy Hill (hillsacres@sk.sympatico.ca), February 12, 2002.

Antie judy help me! i can't find my thing for my pen pal and i saw your e-mail address and thought you might know. britt.

-- Brittany havard (britt_chick92@hotmail.com), February 13, 2002.

Judy, there are other ways to get penpals, and snail mail is the better way to go anyway. It's not as instantaneous, but instant gratification isn't all it's cracked up to be anyway! A hand-written letter on stationery can be re-read many times and is much more personal. Try tracking down some of your childhood friends that you've lost touch with and see if they have children of similar ages. In that way you may get a new penpal also! When my niece was in second grade, her class became penpals with the children in my Mother's second grade class. The two classes were in New Hampshire and Maryland. If you are looking for homesteading children, try hooking up with homesteading organizations in other states to see if you could organize something. Also, something like this could be organized through national associations like Girl Scouts, 4H or your church. Using national organizations and snail mail drastically cuts down on the likelihood that something bad would come of all this.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), February 15, 2002.